Fact-checking the Trump-Harris debate on abortion: five points
Harris (again) refused to name her abortion limits. The only person in the room who called her out was Trump.
The first presidential debate between Vice President Harris and former President Donald Trump put the issue of abortion front and center, but featured plenty of misinformation including from moderators and so-called fact-checkers.
We have the plain, true facts they wish they could brush off.
1. A moderator tried to “fact-check” Trump on abortion survivors – and fell flat
Last night’s top story was the ABC moderators running blatant interference for Harris. When Donald Trump brought up former Virginia Governor Ralph Northam’s infamous “the infant would be kept comfortable…and then a discussion would ensue” interview in which the Democrat described how babies who survive abortions can be left to die, Linsey Davis inserted herself between the candidates, claiming, “There is no state in this country where it is legal to kill a baby after it’s born.”
The facts: Only 35 states have some protections for babies born alive after failed abortions, whom abortionists continue to treat as “the dreaded complication” to be swept under the rug.
A few states have actively removed protections for abortion survivors – including Tim Walz’s Minnesota, where the data reveal eight babies have been left to die under Walz’s watch. Just the News notes, “In 2023, Walz worked with his new Democrat-controlled legislature to eliminate both the reporting requirement and the state’s legal obligation for doctors, nurses and medical professionals to administer life-saving care to infants born alive during an abortion procedure.”
The federal Born-Alive Infants Protection Act of 2002 clarified that such infants are persons under the law, but it fell short of including enforcement provisions. Then-Senator Kamala Harris voted twice against stronger federal protections. (210 House Democrats also voted them down as recently as last year.)
With a growing chorus of outlets and public figures across an ideological spectrum acknowledging the existence of abortion survivors and calling out corporate media, denials like ABC’s get less and less tenable all the time.
That chorus increasingly includes survivors themselves. SBA Pro-Life America previously documented more than 270 instances of babies surviving abortions. The Abortion Survivors Network has connected with nearly 700.
2. Kamala Harris refused to name her limits again
Moderator Davis later asked Harris, “Would you support any restrictions on a woman's right [sic] to an abortion?” Harris responded, “I absolutely support reinstating the protections of Roe v. Wade.”
The facts: Once again, “I support Roe v. Wade” is a dodge, not an answer. Countless Americans over decades have believed they agreed with Roe while also supporting limits that Roe would not allow.
President Trump called her out, correctly stating that Roe allowed elective second and third trimester abortions: “You should ask, will she allow abortion in the eighth month, ninth month, seventh month?”
Harris was not asked about her support for the misnamed Women’s Health Protection Act, which – as we’ve covered extensively – would expand abortion (in the words of Democratic Senator Joe Manchin) and wipe out a slew of state and federal protections for unborn children and their mothers that were upheld under Roe. No moderator attempted to fact-check her or hold her accountable.
3. Harris made false claims about late-term abortion
Emboldened by the assist from Linsey Davis, Harris claimed, “Nowhere in America is a woman carrying a pregnancy to term and asking for an abortion. That is not happening. It's insulting to the women of America.” Neither moderator challenged her.
The facts: “To term” may be something of a semantic matter since, as we know, all pregnancies are not exactly the same length. What is incontrovertible even for abortion advocates is the laws of at least nine states and Washington, D.C. that have no gestational limits on abortion. One is Minnesota, where Gov. Walz signed legislation removing all such limits including the state’s six-month limit.
As we highlighted yesterday, late-term abortions are not “rare” and occur mostly for the same reasons as earlier abortions.
Around 10,000 abortions a year occur after 21 weeks of pregnancy.
At least 55,000 abortions a year occur after 15 weeks of pregnancy, a point when science shows unborn babies can feel pain.
Katrina Kimport, a prominent pro-abortion researcher focusing on third-trimester abortions, concedes these numbers are “not nothing…when you’re thinking about that as real people, that’s a pretty big number.”
One X account with over a million followers noted the career of abortionist Warren Hern, who unabashedly admits carrying out late-term abortions for sex selection on healthy babies with healthy mothers:
Meanwhile, an “all-trimester” abortion center in Maryland reports aborting 10-15 children a week, “nearly all” of whom are over 20 weeks’ gestation (including a week that saw a recovery room full of minor girls as young as 12).
4. Harris repeated lies about pro-life laws and emergency care for pregnant women
Harris claimed, “In over 20 states there are Trump abortion bans which make it criminal for a doctor or nurse to provide health care…You want to talk about this is what people wanted? Pregnant women who want to carry a pregnancy to term suffering from a miscarriage, being denied care in an emergency room because the health care providers are afraid they might go to jail and she's bleeding out in a car in the parking lot?”
The facts: Not a single pro-life law anywhere in the country prevents doctors from rendering care for women suffering a miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy or life-threatening medical emergency. No matter how many times they say it, it’s just not true.
This week the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration set the latest example of states countering such false claims with education. Also, a new study debunks the accusation that pro-life laws are responsible for ob-gyn shortages.
5. Harris continued to ignore women pushed into unwanted abortions
Harris briefly voiced concern for “working women who are working one or two jobs, who can barely afford childcare as it is, have to travel to another state to get on a plane sitting next to strangers, to go and get the health care she needs.” Yet no one asked why she has lauded efforts to shut down pregnancy centers, maternity homes and other organizations that provide alternatives to abortion, including medical services like ultrasounds, at no charge.
Neither did Harris address the epidemic of women suffering from coerced and unwanted abortions, who overwhelmingly say they wished they’d had the emotional or financial support to give birth to their children.
Hear the voices of some of these women in our latest podcast, Under Pressure: Pushed to Abort – 1. The Women Speak Out.
Prior to the debate, SBA Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser said, “The people deserve to know where Harris draws the line, and how she plans to support and value all women and their children, not just abortion.”
Unfortunately, what should have been a clarifying moment left voters with no clearer answers than they had before. It is incumbent on pro-life elected leaders to expose their opponents’ extremism, and the pro-life movement to educate millions of Americans, as our indispensable ground team is working hard to do every day in the key battlegrounds that will determine the future for unborn life in our nation.
In memoriam
Today SBA Pro-Life America also remembers the thousands who lost their lives in the 9-11 terrorist attacks, including 11 unborn children whose names are etched in the World Trade Center memorial.
